Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson — I don’t have much to say about this one. I was drawn to it by the cover, and it meandered pleasantly along. Don’t go into it expecting it to “pick-up,” because it isn’t that kind of book really. There are a few action packed pages at the very end. It was story of family and pride and manners and mores. Of old ways versus new times and breaking traditions. Some where in the midst of thinking it is boring, you realize you care about these characters and want to know how it ends. It is all narrated by the Major who is 68 and has at the opening of the story received news that his brother has died. It is about his tenuous and growing relationship with Mrs. Ali, a widow who runs the local show and is from a different cultural background then the country gentry of the small and stayed English Villagers, and the social pressure they experience from family and friends alike.

Reading:

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs – just started. I’ve loved all the other books in the Mercy Thompson series.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett ; I’m listening to this on audio. Sometimes I’ve trouble focusing on audio non-fiction at the beginning, but this one is holding my interest from the get go.

Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century (Metropolitan Museum of Art) by Harold Koda, Andrew Bolton, and Mimi Hellman

* Dangerous Liaisons is one of my favorite stories. I’ve read the original book by Choderlos de Laclos, seen half dozen film adaptations, and a theatricality retelling setting the whole thing in Germany before WWII. One of the things I love about the Close and Malkovich movie is the clothes. There is something about the sumptuous clothes and furnishing that help set the mood for the characters despicable sport. In Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century (of which I’m only in the introduction) is attempting to lay out a coloration between those aspects. The book is basically a museum’s catalog that laid out it art (clothes, furniture, painting, etc) in dioramas that loaned an air of theater to the exhibit while also humanizing the living space. At least that’s what I’ve gleaned so far. I can’t wait to finish this one.

The Secret Lives of Princesses– Illustrated by Rebecca Dautremer and Words by Philippe Lechermeier
* You’ll fall in love with Dautremer’s illustrations the moment you see them. Their bright colors and whimsy drew me in from the start and I knew I had to have the book no matter what the words were. I’m currently several princesses into the book and Lechermerier’s creative mythology has had me laughing out loud in places. While all of us reader would probably identify with Princess Paige, there is a quiz on the website to uncover your true Princess Personality. It turns out that I’m whimsical, who’d have guessed?

That is probably more then I can chew this week, but we will see how it goes.I still have to pick something for the Southern Women book salon on July 11th.

Southern Women:
Wit * Wisdom * Stereotype

Sunday, July 11, 2010 — 4pm

Join the conversation. The Women’s Book Salon at the Mandeville, LA – Barnes & Noble is not like a normal book club. It is a bi-monthly event where everyone can read what ever book appeals to them on the topic of the month. Then for an hour or so on a lazy Sunday afternoon we get together and talk and talk.

For July, our topic is Southern Women, defined however you like. There are lots of books on the topic, or just come and tell us what your mama used to say. The point is for people who love to read and talk about books to have a place to come and talk with a conversation starter.

Here are some titles to get you started:

A Southern Belle Primer: Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma by Maryln Schwartz

The Southern Belle’s Handbook : Sissy LeBlanc’s Rules to Live By by Loraine Despres

Suck Your Stomach In and Put Some Color On!: What Southern Mamas Tell Their Daughters that the Rest of Y’all Should Know Too by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should): Timeless Secrets to Get Everything you Want in Love, Life, and Work by Ronda Rich

We’re Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle by Celia Rivenbark